Sunday, August 21, 2011

Manchester City staff, players and fans will tell you they have all the tools to take on and beat rivals United this season, but this summer Roberto Mancini has taken a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson's book; the United boss has always enhanced his squad regardless of recent achievements. So despite winning The FA Cup, Mancini moved to bolster his back line. Stefan Savic signed from Partizan Belgrade and Gael Clichy joined the growing number of Arsenal old boys at Eastlands. And after a summer of speculation, City made a huge statement by signing striker Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid for a club record £38m. With world-class players in all areas of the squad, City are now ready for a bonafide title shot.

The signing of Sergio Aguero one of the I hottest properties in Europe is a huge coup for City, and not just because he is Maradona's son-in-law. The 23-year-old is hot property after a series of scintillating performances, including braces against Barcelona and Chelsea. "Right now, Aguero is one of the three or four players who are a little bit higher in the world of football," said Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas of the Argentinian, who scored 10 goals in the final eight matches of last season to get Atletico into Europe. He will hope to be as successful in England as his compatriot Carlos Tevez. Team-mate Gareth Barry is certainly excited by the prospect of playing alongside the Argentine: "He is a class act. Names like that will excite fans and the players," he told reporters. 'Kun' set up two goals in the Europa League Final against Fulham in 2010 and is hoping to replicate that sort of form against English opposition and help City challenge for honours on several fronts this campaign. "I like tricks, I like to dazzle, I like to be able to score goals," Aguero said shortly after signing. "Every so often there is a total revolution in football and someone needs to be the revolutionary who starts things off. That's me."

The last of the 'Invincibles' side who went unbeaten in 2004, Clichy has followed Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure in moving straight from Arsenal to City. However, it appears he has been surprised by the ferocity of tackles in training!"Gael didn't know what had hit him with people flying in," said goalkeeper Joe Hart of his new colleague. James Milneradded, "Gael hasn't been here too long but he's seen a few tackles fly in. He was surprised at that because at Arsenal they don't tackle too much in training. We train as we play, but as soon as we come off the field everyone is together." The left-back brings lots of experience with him as a French international, the youngest player to win a Premier League medal at 18 and featured in all of Arsenal's Champions League campaigns since then. After signing for The FA Cup holders and latest club to join Europe's elite, Clichy said he was looking forward to winning trophies after a six-year drought with the Gunners: "I joined City because I want to win things, and you always progress with competition."

City were strong defensively last season, but have still moved to sign Stefan Savic from Partizan Belgrade on a four-year deal. The 20-year-old centre-back helped Partizan secure a league and cup double last season and is looking forward to joining fellow players from the Balkans who are plying their trade at Eastlands. "I can't wait to play with them and all the other fantastic players we have here," he told the club's official website. "It is a dream come true and I'm especially looking forward to meeting Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov because they both speak my language and come from the Balkans, too. "Alek's already phoned to welcome me to City which makes me feel at home. I watch the Premier League all the time and I know it's the place to be. so I arn looking forward to helping this club achieve great things."His efforts at Partizan elevated him to the Montenegrin team and he was a member of the side who secured a 0-0 draw at Wembley last October. On that day he came up against five City players 'I never imagined that I'd be team-mates with all the City players within a year. Montenegro play England later this year so I'm hoping to have some banter with the England lads."